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Side Orders • April 14, 2016

GONDOLA MISSING . . . But that was about the ONLY thing absent from the 'Ai Pono Awards held on Sunday at Grand Wailea with a Venetian theme and people costumed to the nines.For the uninitiated, the awards are the Oscars of Maui's restaurant industry and anybody who is anyone in it attends. This time, hordes donned costumes and masks. With Italian cuisine, Italian music and gold-painted mimes, it transported one into a carnival in that fabled city, or at the very least to the Venetian in Las Vegas.Bumped into Chef Cameron Lewark, whose restaurant Spago at the Four Seasons Resort Maui ...

Side Orders • April 7, 2016

WEEKEND BUZZ . . . Maui restaurant gossip was buzzing louder than bees swarming a hive at Maui County Agricultural Festival on Saturday on the sunny luau grounds of Maui Tropical Plantation in Waikapu.MTP owner Mike Atherton says he'll roll out Wagons of Waikapu down the highway a stretch and hot on the heels of The Mill House grand opening."Basically, Wagons of Waikapu is the old coconut stand revisited," Atherton said, sitting at a picnic table, enjoying the food. "It will represent all types of food and agriculture here on Maui. We'll make lemonade from lemons."Travis Morrin of ...

Side Orders • March 31, 2016

BREWING INTEREST . . . The Caribbean country of cigars, mojitos and antique automobiles is smokin' hot in the news since President Barrack Obama visited recently. Now a new food cart is rolling into Kahului Harbor's lineup. Alba's Cuban Coladas sells strong espresso and authentic foods of Spanish persuasion."I named it after my grandmother," says owner Christina Sarasola, of Cuban heritage from Miami. "Before she got Alzheimer's, I worked with her on all of her recipes and I use these today. The logo is her signature that I pulled off an old postcard from 1950s Cuba."Sarasola wows with ...

Side Orders • March 24, 2016

WAIKAPU UNIVERSE . . . Some weeks, it's all about Lahaina. Others, Wailea is in the spotlight. But this week, Waikapu is at the center of Maui's food universe for a number of reasons.Fresh Off the Boat just opened in an empty Waikapu lot mauka of Honoapiilani Highway. The actual food boat (in lieu of truck) trolled at Playmakers for a couple of months and before that, near Costco."This is a much better spot 'cause you can sit down and eat here," says owner-chef Wayne Miyahara. "We've got lights, a canopy, plants and everything so we'll be open for lunch and dinner. Our hours are 11 a.m. ...

Side Orders • March 17, 2016

SEND GOOD THOUGHTS Back in the glory days of Maui restaurants, when Continental and European cuisine reigned supreme, Heinz Gerner was a leader in the restaurant scene here.The native of Germany was a classically trained chef and an original owner of the Waterfront, Kihei Prime Rib House, the Bounty, Whalers Ribhaus, Iao Needle and a partner in Hapa's Nightclub (all closed) and three Mexican restaurants that I can remember.Gerner retired and moved to Las Vegas a number of years ago, and has kept busy writing poetry and publishing books in English and in German.It's sad to report that ...

Side Orders • March 10, 2016

SENSORY BITES . . . With a successful location on Market Street in Wailuku, the health-food eatery Farmacy just expanded to Pukalani Terrace Center."We believe the people Upcountry want and appreciate the fresh organic food we prepare," explains Christopher Malik Cousin, chef-owner."My mom inspired me to eat healthy and although I didn't appreciate it as a youth, she is why I have the healthy menus I do today."Farmacy churns out fresh-squeezed juices and smoothies mixing 1,500 pounds of organic sugar cane into them per week. Popular items are the acai bowl similar to a smoothie parfait, ...